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Saturday, April 14, 2012

Just another (windy, tornado-prone) day at the Ranch

War began for the season on poison ivy. I think one of the girls picked it up, as both have small spots of rash that are poison-ivy-ish, but they shared it with me, as I have multiple welts on my legs. Oh, the agony! James sprayed poison. Normally, I'm not a poison girl, but I need this invasive plant gone, or, at the very least for this year, corralled.

The enemy I love to hate.

Weeding, weeding, weeding. The land is definitely significantly drier than the last attempt, although the puddles still exist on the path back to Six Penny Pond. Our new Rogue hoes remain our new favorite tools, although they are heavy!

Resting in the lush grass that grew at the site of last years' compost heap. The Screamer rolled in the grass repeatedly, so tick check revealed a tick in her hair. Always check for ticks!

All-blue potatoes! Their first tiny buds are purple, although the larger plants revert to the usual green. You can also see a small red bug in the lower center of the picture. I'm not sure what it is, but since we saw insect holes already, we'll bring diatomaceous earth on our next work day.

Gathering grass to feed Uncle Bruce's chickens, with the "kids' patch" in the foreground. They didn't feel particularly motivated to hoe it alone, so we are still mastering the idea of how to encourage them to work with us! The potatoes we planted that were leftovers of last year's harvest and already sprouted are growing by leaps and bounds. I saw at least four that had flowered, so I don't know what they're doing in the ground, but it's a good experiment for the year.

Uncle Bruce is also tackling his red cedars, but he quipped that he doesn't have enough axes for James to help him with the stumps. You might not remember the last stump removal operation, but in the process, an ax head came loose.

Uncle Bruce also had two new litters of kittens. It's a good thing they're meant to stay wild, or some members of my family (cough... James) would have brought one home with us.

Tonight, we have a 9 in 10 chance of a tornado (or multiples) sweeping through the area, so here in two, we are battening down the hatches, inviting the neighbors to join us in the storm shelter as necessary, and stocking up the basement for a potentially exciting night!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise. It's Purgatory Ranch.

1 comment:

We bought a hoe this year and man, what a difference! We shouldn't have waited so long. :) I was wondering, where did you buy your diatomaceous earth? We battled squash beetles last year that ruined my zucchini and then took out Tim's pumpkins. I'm hoping the diatomaceous earth can help prevent that again.